Why? The study shows that automation will disproportionately hit middle- and low-income jobs. Its benefits—such as productivity gains and new investment—accrue mainly to highly skilled workers and large companies. (This “winner-take-all” effect has been known for a while.)

The more you earn, the more you save: As more income shifts to the top earners, who save more of it, less of money goes back into the economy.

What this means for growth: The savings will be funneled into investment, which will temporarily boost economic growth. But as the report says, “This growth isn’t based on effective demand and actually creates a misleading signal about how sustainable it is.” Eventually demand-led growth stops altogether, or even reverses, leading to “deeply unbalanced economies,” says the report.

Erin WinickI am MIT Technology Review’s space reporter. I am particularly interested in the technology that enables space exploration, as well as space-based manufacturing, spurring from my background in mechanical engineering. I produce our space tech e-mail newsletter, The Airlock, your gateway to emerging space technologies. I previously served as Technology Review’s associate editor of the future of work. Before joining the publication I worked as a freelance science writer, founded the 3-D printing company Sci Chic, and interned at the Economist. Get in touch at erin.winick@technologyreview.com.

Erin WinickI am MIT Technology Review’s space reporter. I am particularly interested in the technology that enables space exploration, as well as space-based manufacturing, spurring from my background in mechanical engineering. I produce our space tech e-mail newsletter, The Airlock, your gateway to emerging space technologies. I previously served as Technology Review’s associate editor of the future of work. Before joining the publication I worked as a freelance science writer, founded the 3-D printing company Sci Chic, and interned at the Economist. Get in touch at erin.winick@technologyreview.com.

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